Description

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a remake of the original Tomb Raider with a technically more advanced graphics engine. It has the same basic storyline, though some cutscenes and much of the dialogue within have been expanded or modified in other ways. Locations correspond to those of the original version and are accessed in the same order, but have been re-designed with different layouts and mostly completely different puzzles which allow implementation of new moves introduced in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend: swinging on ropes and using a grappling hook at specific points.

Puzzles are generally more focused on acrobatics in this version, ledges being much more prominently featured as a level design element, requiring combinations of jumping and shimmying across them to access areas. This type of gameplay replaces the key-retrieval and block-pushing puzzles of the original almost entirely. Combat is similar to that of the first game, though the player must now manually activate targeting. Some boss fights have been made a separate enclosed stage rather than being part of the exploration as in the original version. These fights may have puzzle-solving elements and often require the player to use Lara's new "adrenaline dodge" ability, which slightly slows down time when the opponent charges at her while in an "enraged" state. Some cutscenes require the player to participate in quick-time events.

Forums

Trivia

Audio commentary

There's a unlockable commentary track by Toby Gard and Jason Botta in which they not only talk about the making of the remake but also about the original Tomb Raider. It's also possible to unlock the Lara model from the original Tomb Raider and play with her.

References

As it already happened in Legend, once again the folks at Crystal Dynamics take a chance to tip their hat to their own Legacy of Kain series: if you find level 12's relic (The Great Pyramid) you'll unlock the wetsuit Lara wore back in Tomb Raider II, only this time it has a b&w logo on the chest. You might recognize this logo as Raziel's clan symbol.

Official Webpage (Mac) (The official product page for the Mac version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary on the publisher's website, which provides a trailer, an overview of the locations and tools within the game, desktop wallpapers, a demo, and purchasing information, among other such particulars.)